Cotuit’s slow climb

As the Cotuit Kettleers work to find their stride as a team in the 2012 Cape Cod Baseball League season, they’ve recently symbolized that old adage, "you win some, you lose some."

Kathleen Szmit

LOOKING UP – Cotuit’s Adam Nelubowich watches the trajectory of a hit during game play against Bourne June 16.

Rollercoaster start for Kettleers

As the Cotuit Kettleers work to find their stride as a team in the 2012 Cape Cod Baseball League season, they’ve recently symbolized that old adage, “you win some, you lose some.”

After batting to victory in their two opening games, the Kettleers suffered two tough losses, including a 5-1 game against Bourne and a 12-3 loss against the Gatemen.

It took the Kettleers until the ninth inning of their game against the Braves to plate a run, thanks to the no-holds-barred pitching of Bourne trio Jeff Thompson, Ryan Donahue and Hawtin Buchanan.

The three held the Kettleers to just four hits the entire game, while Cotuit pushed through six hurlers in its attempt to find momentum on the mound.

Mike Ford lasted just 2.1 innings, during which he allowed two runs in three hits before giving way to Brandon Bixler, who stepped in just long enough to strike out two and allow a run.

Jordan Ramsey lasted 1.2 innings for Cotuit, allowing a run in, before John-Austin Shepard and John Healy combined forces across two innings to shut the Braves down.

At bat, the Kettleers swung away as they tried repeatedly to “have a hit,” only to get a hit before being left stranded.

Derek Smith was the first Kettleer to reach after hitting a nice single only to be left at first when Adam Nelubowich drew out No. 3.

Cotuit had no hits in the second and a walk in the third before the offense appeared ready to strike in the top of the fourth.

After Smith reached on another single, a walk from Nelubowich put two men on with just one out. Both were left stranded, however, when Cotuit’s next two batters swung into outs.

In the ninth, trailing 5-0, Justin Glass reached first on a walk before advancing on another walk on Smith. With Smith and Nelubowich stung during Nelubowich’s at-bat, it was up to Glass to stop a shutout, which he did on a sweet triple from Tim Kiene for Cotuit’s lone run.

Smith went 2-for-3 at the plate, with Kiene going 1-for-4, while Alex Johnson went 1-for-1.

Head Coach Mike Roberts said that what worked against his team in their losses was defensive errors. Cotuit committed five against Bourne.

“In our first five games our struggles have been defensively,” Roberts said. “The three games we played good defense we won, the two that we didn’t we gave away a lot of runs.”

Roberts noted that with the College World Series still in swing, Cotuit is among several teams still awaiting players.

“We’re trying to find somewhat of a set lineup,” Roberts said. “I think all of us are still trying to figure out what our lineup is.”

Roberts said that in spite of the losses, he is confident in his pitchers.

“The one thing we do have stability with is our pitching staff because we have kind of our starting pitching lined up now,” he said.

When it comes to games, Roberts said he approaches every outing as if it’s a first game.

“What I try to do, very honestly, is I don’t look at the uniform,” he said. “I just try to play every day. If we do that, we’ll probably play better.”

Next up for the Kettleers is a home game at Lowell Park against the Brewster Whitecaps, set to start today (June 22) at 5 p.m.